Chronicles of the Clone Wars
by Historian1912
Summary: Anakin and Ahsoka's mission to rescue Jabba the Hutt's son fails. These are the consequences. Series of AU oneshots.
1. Enemy

Prompt: 28, Enemy

World: AU

Time period: Clone Wars (21 BBY)

Major Character(s): Ahsoka Tano

Original Character(s): Dack Lana

Author's Note: If Ahsoka comes across as slightly, or majorly, out of character I apologize. I might try to fix it later if given helpful feedback. Please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All characters, locations, languages, items, etc… found herein are property of George Lucas with the exceptions of the character Dack Lana, the planet Temay, and anything else that can't be found on Wookiepedia.

Sixteen year old Dack Lana stared out the shattered window at what used to be a bustling metropolis. Lying on his stomach he was barely noticeable in the darkness. A few hundred yards away his opposite number was doing the same thing: waiting to see who would move first. Dack didn't really need to activate any of the enhanced viewing modes on the macrobinoculars the army had issued him. The fires from the day's battle still burned in the central plaza, lighting up the area and exposing the craters, scorch marks, and piles of broken bodies that littered the once beautiful plaza.

Dack zoomed in a nearby cluster of white-armored bodies, partially covered by pieces of what used to be a bridge between buildings. He could make out the distinctive T-visor of a clone trooper. Much closer were bodies covered in shades of green and brown, the same shades as Dack's uniform. Wincing at the sight, the young soldier forced himself to keep searching for his target. Despite the vastness of the plaza, there was only one place she could be other than with her surviving troops: the bridge. He was halfway relieved that he hadn't spotted her. The last time he'd seen her, she'd been barely conscious. She was also stubborn and sometimes foolish. Leading a reconnaissance mission after suffering several heavy blows to the head and torso and possibly suffering from blunt force trauma was definitely something she would do, assuming she could even stand up.

Dack's fellow soldiers knew almost nothing about the Jedi they all agreed was far too young to be on a battlefield, never mind a command position, when there were plenty of able-bodied adults capable of serving. To them she was the enemy, no matter how young she was. To Dack, she was his best friend, had been for years. His friend's name was Ahsoka Tano, apprentice of Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and a commander in the Grand Army of the Republic. Dack, however, was a corporal in the Army of Temay, a member of the Confederacy of Independent Systems. Chances of a pleasant reunion: nonexistent. Dack knew when the war started that there was a chance he'd find himself shooting at his best friend. Never had he imagined that the encounter would come on his homeworld. Even more ironically, this was the Republic's only offensive action in the region, according to news reports. Everywhere else the CIS was advancing courtesy of the hyperlanes that run through Hutt Space.

Sadly, the blame for this fell squarely on Ahsoka's shoulders, at least according to some senior Jedi. She had failed to protect Jabba's the Hutt's son. Naturally, the Republic's attempts at a treaty with the Hutts fell through. The rest, it could be said, was history.

Ahsoka apparently hadn't made it back to Republic space unscathed. Dack shuddered at the thought of what might have happened to her had Jabba gotten his hands on her. If the rumors he heard were true, Ahsoka was starting to revert back to her old, timid personality, especially on the battlefield. Despite what most people thought, Anakin Skywalker was not her first master. She had originally been made a Padawan at age eleven. It was one of the few times she had freely admitted to anyone that she was in over her head. Dack was pretty sure the only reason she had decided to be open with him in the first place was because he was as impartial as one could possibly be. He was not a Jedi or even Force-sensitive. Best of all, until he had moved from Coruscant to Temay, he had no friends other than Ahsoka and his little sister. There was no one he could accidently reveal anything to.

Giving up his search for his friend, he slowly limped back to ground level while another soldier took his place. Having taken a blaster round to his leg and lost the camouflaged scarf he'd been wearing to a closing door, Dack was lucky he wasn't a prisoner or even dead hours ago. Seeing his squadmates, the corporal was pretty sure that Ahsoka was not going to make it out of this one intact even if she won. Judging by her actions earlier today, this was the first time Ahsoka had truly fought against living opponents, pre-war missions notwithstanding. She'd never had to kill before.

_Eight hours earlier_

Ahsoka held onto the overhead handles as tightly as she could as the LAAT/i hurtled for the planet's surface. She didn't want to admit it, but she was actually scared. Not scared as in 'I'm-about-to-get-shot-at-by-a-bunch-of-emotionless-killing-machines' that she had experienced time and again. This was different. This time, she would be engaging living, breathing beings that were defending their homeworld. Unlike missions she had been on before the war, disarmament would not suffice. These people were soldiers, as determined to win as the clone troopers riding with her in the gunship. They would either return home as heroes or not at all.

The landing was probably the roughest one to date that wasn't actually a crash. The gunship landed in the outskirts of the city. The troops disembarked hurriedly, having no wish to be anywhere near the gunship, which was already attracting a lot of small arms fire. Ahsoka was more than slightly disturbed to see only a third of the troops she was expecting. This operation was not off to a good start.

Pausing a moment to calm herself, Ahsoka looked around for Captain Rex, currently serving as her advisor and second-in-command. The padawan had technically been given command of a whole regiment from the 501st Legion, but only a battalion had been sent in the first wave. The rest of the regiment, along with the majority of the 3rd Army, was scheduled to land the next day once sufficient landing zones were secured. Ahsoka's master, Anakin Skywalker was currently fighting on Naboo. A Separatist assault on the planet had caused the Supreme Chancellor to personally order both Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to Naboo to lead and inspire the troops there, accompanied by a battle group originally earmarked for the assault on Temay. The fleet assaulting Temay, commanded by Admiral Yularen, was thought to be more than enough to bring the Separatist stronghold to its knees.

Finding the captain, Ahsoka demanded a quick summary of the situation. The news was less than encouraging. At the moment, neither air support nor reinforcements were available. The pilots Temayan Navy and Air Force were not exactly happy that a fleet of Republic warships had decided to set up shop in orbit above them. Backed up by their own fleet, the Temayan pilots were making life very complicated for anyone trying to reach the surface, blasting any gunships foolish enough to head towards the planet's surface and any fighter escorts that got in their way.

Shoving a wish that her master was there beside her into the back of her mind, Ahsoka ordered her troops to advance. Since she couldn't do anything about the situation in space, she decided to complete her own assignment. Giving the order to advance, Ahsoka headed for the nearby plaza the map back aboard ship had titled Landing Zone Bacta.

Though it took them half an hour to reach their destination, the clones did not see a single enemy soldier. Naturally, this was starting to make the troops nervous. Ahsoka herself was more than a little jumpy. Hearing the sounds of battle in the distance yet not being engaged herself did nothing to calm her down; it actually made her even more nervous. When she and her troops arrived at the plaza, Ahsoka ordered a halt. Captain Rex gave a nod of approval. It was just too quiet. To avoid being caught out in the open, Ahsoka ordered Rex to lead about a third the battalion along the left perimeter of the plaza; another officer would be responsible for another third advancing along the right. Ahsoka herself would lead half of the remaining third up a set of stairs to the walkways that circled the edge of the plaza and provide fire support from above. Those not given any maneuvering orders were to hold their positions and give the battalion a position to rally at and eventually retreat to if necessary.

As the troops spread out, Ahsoka increasing got a feeling of dread. "Keep alert, everyone," she said over her commlink, "We don't want any…" She walked right into the muzzles of several Temayan blaster rifles "surprises."

Up close, the Temayan soldiers were quite different from the Grand Army's clone troopers. They all wore rounded, open-faced helmets, most covered in fabric the same color as their uniforms, as well as combat vests with pockets holding a variety of items. Two wore goggles, one of whom wore a scarf covering the lower half of his face. What concerned Ahsoka, however, were the DH-17 blaster rifles aimed at her head and chest.

For a second or two, the two groups stared at each other, not quite sure what to do. Shoot? Demand surrender? Back away slowly? Ahsoka ended the uncertainty with a Force blast that sent troops flying in every direction. Unfortunately that included her troops. Activating her lightsaber, Ahsoka rushed the Temayan soldiers, expecting the clones to follow her. The closest one, the one with the scarf fired a shot, but not at her. A shout of pain behind her indicated he'd hit his target. Ahsoka swung that the soldier, but hesitated at the last moment. The hesitation cost her.

The next ten seconds were a blur of pain for Ahsoka. The soldier lunged towards her, slamming the butt of her rifle into her stomach. Doubling over, Ahsoka's grip on her lightsaber loosened. The soldier dropped the rifle and slammed both his fists down on the Padawan's now exposed head. Ahsoka felt her lightsaber slip from her fingers.

Disorientated, Ahsoka jumped back, sinking into what the Temayan soldiers recognized as an Emeriandian fighting stance. Her enemy didn't even give her a chance to secure her footing. Ahsoka's weak stance caused her to stumble backwards at the first punch, which she barely blocked. She replied with a strike to her opponent's face, hoping to knock him out quickly. It was easily sidestepped.

Ahsoka realized too late that she was doing what Dack, her friend and unofficial unarmed combat trainer, had told her specifically not to do: react. Not every blow had to be returned; waiting _was_ an action. The Temayan was controlling her movements, provoking her, almost as if he knew how she thought. Dack had done the same thing, but he'd known her for years, taught her his homeland's fighting style. He also knew something about Togrutas most people did not. Most non-Togrutas assume that Togrutas' montrals are solid bone, like horns. In reality, however, they are hollow, giving Togrutas a passive echolocation ability. Though strong enough to handle impacts about as well as the skull, the montrals' gift of echolocation was also a curse. A strong blow to one of the montrals was enough to disorientate a Togruta, turning clear echolocation pictures into static, mimicking the effects of a stun grenade on humans. Side effects of a strong blow were similar to a migraine or a concussion.

The Temayan grabbed Ahsoka's outstretched arm, twisting it. Ahsoka stifled a cry of surprise and pain. She felt her arm be forced behind her back; this was not good. With her between him and the clones, her troops couldn't fire without risking hitting her. Fortunately, the same went for the Temayans, though Ahsoka didn't have long to contemplate this. A moment later, the pressure on her wrist vanished. A half second later her world exploded. She couldn't think, couldn't see. Tears formed in the girl's eyes as she collapsed to her knees, grasping her head. She expected another blow to follow. It never came.

A door whooshed open and shut. Ahsoka was dimly aware of blasterfire, followed by a yelp, and a faint rumbling and shaking of the floor. She felt sick, dizzy. No, 'dizzy' suggested that she at least a vague understanding of which way was up. This was worse. Her world spun. She distantly felt hands grabbing her, catching her. She heard noises, footfalls, blasterfire. Her world shifted, making her feel sicker. Her world shifted again. The last thing she was aware of was someone shouting her name.

When Ahsoka woke up, she became aware of two things: she was in a med center and her head felt like her own personal little war was going on inside it. After about half an hour of medical personnel questioning her, Ahsoka was hoping she would be left alone. No such luck. As soon as she was left alone, she found herself having a viewscreen chat with her master. After a short conversation where they more or less steered around the proverbial bantha in the room, Ahsoka found herself on the receiving end of a lecture about being careful, about how her master couldn't bear to lose her.

Eventually, her master signed off and Ahsoka was left alone with her own thoughts. She was confused. She couldn't figure out how she'd been beaten, especially this badly. She didn't even know who, exactly she had been fighting against. She'd been so jittery by the time her battalion had gotten to the plaza she could barely sense her own clone troopers, never mind beings she did not know the general location of, hence her walking into a near ambush. Most beings didn't know just how debilitating getting hit on her montrals was for her, especially for her. For some reason she was more sensitive to such injuries than was considered normal. She'd learned that the hard way the day she met Dack.

Ahsoka lay back on pillow, thinking about the battle. Her troops had been forced back by fire from above shortly after she was incapacitated, suffering heavy casualties as a result. Despite this, the invasion seemed to be sticking relatively closely to its anticipated schedule. Ahsoka wasn't bothered by that. That was good news. What she was worried about was her fight with the enemy soldier and what that said about her.

After turning over every second of her fight with the Temayan soldier over her mind for over an hour, Ahsoka came to the conclusion that she lost because she hesitated. She didn't kill the soldier when she had the chance. She knew she had no trouble destroying droids. This was different, however. Killing the enemy felt about as wrong as killing Rex or any of the other clones she led into battle. Fighting against mindless, soulless machines of death and destruction was one thing. Fighting against the living was something else entirely.

Ahsoka sighed, frustrated. She had two options before her. She could continue to lead her soldiers and risk hesitating again, which could prove fatal. Mercy on the battlefield is a rare thing. Her other option would be to return to her master's side, where most would agree she belonged. The Padawan suddenly had a horrible thought. What if she found herself fighting her friend? She had little doubt that Dack had joined the Temayan Army as soon as he possibly could. Was he out there fighting right now? Was he even still alive? It wasn't something Ahsoka wanted to think about. If they encountered each other, what would they do? Would they fight each other to protect their comrades? Would they try to avoid each other? Would their hesitation to fight get them both killed? Ahsoka hoped not, but it wasn't like she could reliably predict the future.

Practically growling in frustration, Ahsoka got out of bed and walked over to the viewscreen. She had made her decision. The battlefield had enough vagaries without all the ones she was now carrying in her head. It would be foolish for her and fatal for her troops if she continued to lead if she could not be relied upon to do her part in combat. She was going to go back to her master, back to where everything made sense and all of the living soldiers were on her side. She could not bring herself to directly fight her friend and was not about to force him to do the same. They were friends before the war; they could be friends again after the war. There was no need for them to be enemies.


	2. Sky

Prompt: 88, Sky

World: AU

Time period: Clone Wars (21 BBY)

Major Character(s): Odd Ball, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker

Author's Note: please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All characters, locations, languages, items, etc… found herein are property of George Lucas. I just own the story.

Commander Oddball was having the worst day of his life. Being woken up unexpectedly is slightly unpleasant. Being woken up by a call to 'General Quarters' is somewhere between frightening and frustrating. Being told there are multiple contacts within two minutes flight time of you before you even get in the air is infuriating. Discovering "multiple contacts" apparently means the entire CIS Navy just has appeared in-system and started deploying every starfighter at its disposal makes you wish you had written out your will the night before. Odd Ball wondered if he was ever going to wake up from this nightmare.

"_All fighters report in,"_ Odd Ball heard the battle coordinator's voice say through his headset.

"_Red Leader, standing by,"_ General Obi-Wan Kenobi said, piloting his Delta 7B starfighter slightly in front of Odd Ball's V-19 Torrent. A master tactician much better suited for coordinating operations from the bridge of Star Destroyer, General Kenobi was the last person Odd Ball would have expected to lead the fighter attack. The man hated flying, yet there he was, about to make half of Red Squadron look like they had never been in combat before.

"Red Two, standing by" Odd Ball said. Though his name sometimes acted as his call sign, he normally used the call signs 'Red Leader' and 'Red Two'. As General Kenobi was leading the squadron, today Odd Ball was 'Red Two'. The clone settled back into his seat and readjusted his crash harness, letting the familiarity of procedure calm him.

"_Red Three, standing by,"_ Bravo said. Bravo, like some clones, didn't have a nickname that stuck around long enough to become his name till he was already in the middle of the war. His name came from the fact that he been the best pilot from Training Flight Bravo and the only remaining survivor of that flight. He found flying alongside Naboo's famed Bravo Squadron extremely amusing.

"_Red Four, standing by,"_ said Twister, so named for his enthusiasm for aerial acrobatics.

"_Red Five, standing by,"_ General Anakin Skywalker said, piloting his customized version of the Delta 7B somewhat behind and above the rest of the formation. Almost to a man, the pilots of Red Squadron could not figure out what the general was doing flying with them. The general alone was the equivalent of an entire fighter squadron. Confused as to why he was there or not, the pilots of Red Squadron were more than happy to have him flying along with them.

"_Red Six, standing by,"_ Torrent said. An ace with the starfighter he shared his name with, Torrent had the distinctive honor of being General Skywalker's wingman, just as Odd Ball was Kenobi's.

"_Red Seven, standing by,"_ Lucky radioed in. He definitely earned his name, having survived more close calls than a trooper had a right to survive.

"_Red Eight, standing by,"_ Ice, the last member of Red Squadron, said, sounding uncharacteristically nervous. Unlike the rest of the clone pilots in his squadron, Ice was never known to panic, ever. If Ice was worried, then things were probably going to get much worse before they got better.

To be quite frank, Red Squadron was little more than a large flight. It didn't even have enough pilots to create a standard infantry squad. Ground crew was the only thing the squadron had in abundance and even that was diminishing as the Grand Army of the Republic took casualties faster than it could replace them. Shorthanded or not, the squadron had a job to do.

"I've got vultures coming in, straight ahead," Odd Ball said, warning the squadron of the incoming fighters, not that he really needed to. Every single starfighter's HUD was probably painted red there were some many hostile contacts.

"_I've got a bad feeling about this,"_ General Kenobi muttered.

"_Master, you've always got a bad feeling about something,"_ General Skywalker stated what Odd Ball was thinking. The clone was seriously thinking of painting General Kenobi's well-worn phrase onto the hull of his starfighter.

All joking ended less than a minute later as Red Squadron dove into the fray. A better description of it would probably be a nightmare. Odd Ball certainly thought so as he found himself dodging vulture droids at speeds that would have made his fighter uncontrollable in an atmosphere. As it was Odd Ball was beginning to understand why the Republic Starfighter Corps had more pilots grounded due to stress issues than pilots cleared to fly.

Beating back the first wave of attackers, Red Squadron reformed near one of the Star Destroyers, having miraculously survived the first wave intact. They joined a Star Destroyer that was moving into a defensive position.

"Sir, I'm detecting multiple realspace reversions on our right flank," Odd Ball warned his commander.

"_Presume hostile and prepare to engage,"_ General Kenobi ordered. The squadron prepared to attack.

"Break off, break off," Odd Ball shouted over the comm. channel as three _Subjugator-class_ heavy cruisers came out of hyperspace, specifically the _CISS Subjugator_, the _CISS Malevolence_, and the _CISS Devastation_. Everyone, including General Skywalker, aborted the attack.

"_Admiral Yularen to all units, disengage and prepare to withdraw." _For a moment, there was dead silence over the comm. It was broken by a tirade from General Skywalker. Odd Ball caught something along the lines of Admiral Yularen being a coward before switching to a secondary channel that connected him directly with General Kenobi.

"What are your orders, sir?" the clone pilot asked.

"_Disengage and head for Naboo. We're going to… Incoming! Get away from the Star Destroyers!"_ The general's starfighter shot straight down. Odd Ball followed without question. The rest of the squadron broke formation and split up, scattering in different directions.

Looking up Odd Ball could see a wall of crackling pink… something bearing down on him. No, not him. The Star Destroyers. Odd Ball watched in horror as what he now realized was a massive ion blast struck the Star Destroyers. Other than a few energy arcs and a noticeable lack of exterior lights, there was no visible damage to the ships. The Separatist Navy decided to correct that. Nine Star Destroyers practically disintegrated under the withering fire of multiple _Lucrehulk, Subjugator, _and _Providence-class_ warships.

Continuing to dive, Odd Ball started to adjust his fighter so he would enter Naboo's atmosphere at an angle and not burn to a crisp on reentry. Suddenly, his craft started shaking and alarms indicating engine failure started flashing.

"I've got a problem here, sir," Odd Ball said as he shut down the engines and set the ventral fin into its dorsal landing position. That was standard procedure for system failure in atmosphere for any craft: make the ship as aerodynamic as possible. The ship shook again as it passed through the upper atmosphere.

Odd Ball forced himself to remain calm when he received no answer, reminding himself that he was at a point in his descent where communications did not work at all. He still wasn't sure what happened to his engines, but Odd Ball wasn't too bothered by that. That just turned his starfighter into a somewhat clumsy glider. Engine failure was annoying; repulsorlift failure was fatal in atmosphere. Checking to make sure his forward repulsorlifts were still functional, as he'd need them to slow down to a survivable landing speed, Odd Ball turned off all unnecessary systems, including shields and weapons systems. Without the engine generating more power he was dependent on whatever was stored on the on-board batteries. When those failed, he'd lose control of his fighter entirely since everything, including the control yoke, was connected by electric signals. Nothing connected mechanically. Odd Ball was definitely going to recommend a change in design to rectify that, assuming he lived long enough to do so.

Odd Ball had no clue how much time passed, having zoned out and been more or less running on mental autopilot. Breaking through the clouds, the pilot could see the plains surrounding the capital city of Theed. He didn't have time to enjoy the view, however. He had to figure out how to land without reducing his fighter to a burning scrap pile and himself to a mutilated corpse.

"_Unidentified radar contact, please identify yourself. You are in restricted airspace,"_ a voice informed Odd Ball that communications were working once again.

"This is Red Two. My engine is down and I'm running entirely on battery power. I need an emergency landing zone."

"_Roger, radar contact. This is Theed Tower. There is a landing zone you just overshot in the plains. We're handing you over to Plains Tower for landing. Switch frequency to…" _The voice continued on calmly, giving Odd Ball a few tips on how to land what was now essentially a multi-ton glider before signing off. Only then did Odd Ball switch frequencies.

"Plains Tower, this Red Two. Come in, please," Odd Ball said, informing the tower he was on their frequency.

"_Copy that, Red Two. Loop around the city and descend to Angels Two."_

"Acknowledged. Descending now."

"_Red Two, you are number one for landing. Bring her in. We have crash netting deployed and an emergency team on standby,"_ the air traffic controller said.

"This is Red Two. I'm coming in."

The landing was probably the worst in Odd Ball's short career. It was obvious that the clone did not have much experience in emergency landings. The footage of the landing would later be used by instructors to show how _not_ to perform an emergency landing, aside from the obvious fireball crashes that usually indicate a complete loss of control of the air/spacecraft.

First, Odd Ball came in too steep, and then overcorrected, almost turning the crash landing into just a crash. The engines hit the ground, rapidly pulling down the rest of the craft. The massive amount of drag this created, along with the crash netting, stopped the V-19 about halfway down the emergency runway.

Odd Ball was helped out of his crash webbing by the Naboo flight crew running the small base. A few minutes later a LAAT/i came to take him back to Theed for debriefing. Slumping down on the floor of the gunship, exhausted, Odd Ball then and there swore that he would leave death-defying piloting feats to General Skywalker from then on. Despite what General Skywalker seemed to believe, there was a reason some things were considered impossible.


	3. Exodus

Prompt: 73, Exodus

World: AU

Time period: Clone Wars (21 BBY)

Major Character(s): Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker, Jar Jar Binks

Author's Note: please read and review. This deals with the aftermath of "Enemy" and "Sky". This covers the final defense of Theed during the Separatist invasion of Naboo partially from the point of view of General Kenobi. This is also a minor attempt to make Jar Jar awesome and get revenge on him for making Episode I be the most hated film of the Star Wars Saga. Last names are used to slightly mimic a report on the battle to the Jedi High Council and show how Kenobi is a little more emotionally detached from the situation, if only till he is no longer being shot at.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. All characters, locations, languages, items, etc… found herein are property of George Lucas. I just own the story.

High General Obi-Wan Kenobi braced himself against the situation table as his whole command center shook from a nearby artillery blast. The defense of Naboo was going about as well as he had predicted should it come to a ground battle. With only a few Naboo and Republic fighter squadrons and a ground force made up a Republic infantry corps, the entire Gungan Grand Army, and the Naboo Security Force at his disposal, General Kenobi knew he could not hold the planet. All that the general could really hope to do was delay the Separatist Army until the Republic Navy could evacuate anyone that managed to survive the onslaught as well as nearby civilians. They had transports, a mixture of local and generic Republic civilian craft, but they could not possibly hold everyone. Whether or not they could get past the blockade was the real question, though. According to every officer that knew how to fly the transports should only be used as a last resort. As the siege progressed, Kenobi's last option was looking more and more like his only option.

Thus far the Republic had been able to delay the Separatists for about a month. Their first line of defense, a task force of twelve star destroyers and various supporting vessels, had been swept away, with only two star destroyers and their escorts surviving. Nine star destroyers were lost so quickly the officers studying the situation map initially thought the holographic projectors had malfunctioned. Generals Kenobi and Skywalker had the distinct misfortune to witness the loss of those nine star destroyers. A tenth was critically damaged before ramming a Separatist _Providence-class_ cruiser, utterly destroying both ships. The surviving ships had taken the opening the collision had created and fled the system.

General Kenobi readjusted the holographic map the show him a larger view of the battle. Not liking what he saw, he gave orders to his communications officers who quickly relayed the orders to the appropriate units. The evacuation transports were supposed to be to arrive that night. So far, the only Republic craft that had gotten through was a shuttle carrying Skywalker's Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, and that was a month ago. Since then, about half of the Separatist fleet had withdrawn from Naboo, apparently needed elsewhere. Kenobi gave a morbid chuckle at that thought. Would there even be a Republic Navy left to extract his men from this nightmare? With those three _Subjugator-class_ cruisers having left Naboo for destinations unknown, being stranded was a very real possibility. How had everything come down to this?

The initial Separatist landings went unopposed, partially due to their concentration in woodland areas and remote towns on the opposite side of the planet from Theed. Staying behind to defend his homeworld rather than follow the mandatory evacuation order that Senator Amidala followed, Jar Jar Binks resigned his position as a representative and reclaimed his commission as a general in the Gungan Grand Army. Leading his forces in a preemptive strike, supported by Republic troops led by General Skywalker on his flank and a second Gungan force led by General Tarpals striking the Separatist rear, the Battle of Grassy Plains (Clone Wars) would be remembered among the bloodiest battles ever fought on Naboo. By the time the carnage ended, General Tarpals was retreating with less than a tenth of his forces. General Skywalker fell back to Theed with about a third of his men and a barely conscious Ahsoka. The Padawan had found herself in the blast radius of a Separatist artillery round and subsequently spent most of the next month in a Bacta tank.

Bombad General Jar Jar Binks and his troops were cut off from the relative safety of the swamp. Unable to retreat, they fought to the last Gungan, inflicting more casualties upon the Separatists during their stand than the Trade Federation lost during the previous Battle of Grassy Plains ten years prior. Post-war their names would be inscribed on twin memorials in Theed and Otoh Gunga. The general himself was the last to fall. Thanks to footage of his final moments captured by a LAAT/i gunship, General Binks was posthumously awarded the Naboo people's highest award for bravery. The last surviving member of his command, Binks managed to destroy one AAT with a large booma and cause a collision between a second and third tank that destroyed both. Taking a blaster bolt to the leg when he leapt clear of the blast, he was too slow to avoid a round from an AAT's main gun, vaporizing him from the waist down. Picking up a fallen droid's blaster, General Binks managed to fell several more battle droids before being reduced to a charred pile of ashes by the combined firepower of a platoon of B1 battle droids and a squad of destroyer droids. If it weren't for the gunship footage, there would have been no physical evidence to prove the general had even been in the battle.

Soon thereafter the Separatists overran most of the planet. Those loyal to the Republic either hid or died. There was no way to stand up to the droid army anywhere except at Theed. The Naboo Security Force was simply spread too thin to put up much meaningful resistance.

The Battle of Theed had been going on for days. Ironically, the Separatists had delayed their final assault just long enough for Ahsoka to be considered capable of moving around. Though still weak Ahsoka had insisted that she have a job to do, so General Kenobi had assigned her to conduct the defense of the shield generator that kept the ships orbiting the planet from reducing Theed to a blackened crater.

"Sir, all units are indicating that they can't hold on much longer," a clone trooper commander informed the general. "I highly recommend we launch all remaining evacuation ships immediately."

"You're right," Kenobi said, admitting defeat. "Prepare all transports for immediate launch."

"Yes, sir."

General Kenobi hated flying. As for why he was strapped into a Delta-7b interceptor, he could only chalk that up to necessity. Joining Red Squadron in a desperate escort mission to evacuate the last four transports, Kenobi had doubled his wartime starfighter kill count by the time the first three transports of the four transports had gotten into the air. The fourth, the _Corellia_,was waiting for Commander Tano and the last of the ground troops, sat in a plaza converted into a landing zone. Five minutes ago, the shield generator had been destroyed by AAT fire. As the evening sky filled with droid starfighters, General Kenobi had ordered the first three transports to take off immediately. The _Corellia_ was to take off as soon as the last trooper boarded.

"_Master, I'm all for escorting the transports until they can enter hyperspace, but how are _we_ supposed to get out of here? The V-19s aren't equipped with hyperdrives and our hyperdrive rings have been destroyed,"_ General Skywalker voiced the question the entire squadron wanted an answer to.

"Since we can't jump into hyperspace on our own I've called in a Star Destroyer pick us up and immediately leave the system. Those _Subjugator-class_ ships have gotten the ship's captain so spooked it's a wonder he's turning up at all," Kenobi explained, "I'm sending you the rendezvous coordinates now."

"_Coordinates received, sir,"_ Odd Ball responded, _"It's not too far from the transports' jump point. Maybe this won't be a suicide mission after all."_

"You actually thought I'd send you in without some way to get you out?" Kenobi asked worriedly. He really thought he had shown he cared more about his soldiers' lives than that.

"_No, sir. At least not without coming with us, sir."_

"Well, let's all try to come home alive. Pair off and cover the transports. Odd Ball and I will cover the _Gundark_. Red Three and Four will cover the _Kaduu_, and Red Seven and Eight will cover the _Nerf_."

"_What about me and Torrent, Master?"_ General Skywalker asked.

"Do what you do best. Shoot down as many fighters as you can." General Kenobi chuckled softly as Skywalker and Torrent started cheering. Apparently, he had just made their day.

To the general's great surprise, Red Squadron and the transports made it into space unmolested. They were about halfway to the rendezvous point when what seemed like every starfighter in the CIS Navy descended upon them.

The next several minutes were full of evasive maneuvers that would have killed the pilots had they attempted them in the atmosphere and a communications channel that was never quiet for even a second. Surprisingly enough, the transports made it into hyperspace without any fighters or transports being lost. However, there was still a noticeable lack of Star Destroyer for the squadron to escape on.

Sticking with their wingmen, the pilots of Red Squadron did its best to stay close to the planned rendezvous point. Fortunately for them, the capital ships ignored the starfighters, instead turning their attention to Naboo itself. While checking for the signal from the _Corellia_ indicating its position, General Skywalker uncharacteristically started flying defensively allowing Torrent, still his wingman, to engage the Separatist starfighters while he covered the clone's six. General Kenobi noticed the change.

"Anakin, are you alright? Are you hit?" the older general asked.

"_No, Master. I'm just trying to keep track of Ahsoka. Her transport hasn't taken off yet. We may need to head back and clear a path for them,"_ General Skywalker explained.

"Negative. There's no time. I'm telling everyone still on the ground to scatter. That transport doesn't have much time before it becomes the target of an orbital bombardment.

Before General Skywalker could reply, a _Venator-class_ Star Destroyer exited hyperspace exactly where it had said it would.

"_This is the _RSS Challenger_, all friendly forces are to board immediately. We have very little time. _Challenger_ out,"_ a voice said over the squadron's shared communications frequency. Red Squadron hurried to land inside the _Challenger_'s dorsal hanger. The squadron completed their task in less than a minute.

Almost in response to the Star Destroyer's arrival, the _CISS Malevolence _opened fire. Its target, however, was not the new arrival. The _Corellia_'s signal disappeared from all frequencies, while the ship itself and several surrounding city blocks were reduced to molten heaps of durasteel and intricately carved rock.

The last thing the two Jedi generals felt before the _Challenger_ entered hyperspace was an abrupt scream of pain through the Force then silence.


End file.
